I have a 2000 Ford Windstar, and love to drive the van. That is, I love to drive it when it is not at the dealer being repaired.
I had a 1998 Ford Windstar, which the dealer could not fix, and they decided that it would be easier to just give me a new one, so they gave me a 2000 Windstar which I have since Oct. 28, 1999.
The problem with the 1998 Windstar was a problem with the traction control. There was a TRAC OFF light which would intermittently flash, and they fixed it 5 times, and every time they fixed it, it would start happening again, so they got so frustrated that they decided to give me a new one. This was after having the 1998 for 1 year with about 20,000 miles on it. I must say, the service department treated me great. They always gave me a free loaner whenever they had the van in for service.
So, I had the 2000 for about a month, when one day, after doing some errands, the car would not start. The dealer had the car towed, and they thought it was a malfunctioning key(the new cars have a computer chip in the key that the car will only start with a matching chip). It turned out that it wasn't that, and they had the vehicle for 10 days, had to contact a Ford engineer, and finally got an answer that maybe it is something with the anti-theft system. They had given me a free loaner again, and they say they fixed the vehicle, but with their track record, I am just waiting for it to not start again.
On a brighter note, the van has a beautiful smooth ride, drives like a car(but better). It is very comfortable, but comparing the 1998 and the 2000, they have gotten cheap and do not give you the same quality on some of the options like they did.
If you are in the market for a minivan, and don't care about bringing in the vehicle for warrantee work, and are going to trade it in before the warrantee is up, I'd say go for it. Otherwise, I would look into a Honda Odessy or a Toyota Sienna.